Attorney: Deputy tased man to death

LAPLACE, LA (WVUE) - A Laplace family is suing the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff after they say a deputy tased their loved one to death.

Ennis LaBaux, III, died on July 5, 2014, after deputies were called to his home because he tried to attack a family member.

When the first deputy arrived, he tried to restrain LaBaux, but couldn't get him under control.

"He resisted, three more officers come on the scene and are attempting to subdue him," Tregg Wilson, the family's attorney said.

Wilson believes what happened next may have cost LaBaux his life.

"One of the officers, believed to be Deputy [Anthony] Preyan, did actually tase him and tased him for a period of 32 second over a 41 second span, five times, five separate times he tased him, giving him about one second to two second breaks in between," Wilson said.

Wilson claims that was too long and too many times.

"At most, Taser allows three times to be pulled, the trigger, and this is in a very short window of time, 42 seconds, that he was tased five times, he was tased one additional time about a minute later, and about three minutes after that, Ennis LaBaux fell unresponsive and died," Wilson said.

Now LaBaux's sister, Alisha LaBaux, is filing a wrongful death suit against the Sheriff and his deputy, but Wilson thinks key evidence in the case, an expert report on the taser used he thinks was completed last year, isn't being turned over in a timely manner.

"Now here we are, about six, seven months later and we still do not have confirmation that the DA's office has received this expert report from Taser International," Wilson said. "As of yesterday, [the DA's] attorney has represented to me that they still do not have this report from Taser International."

An autopsy report shows LaBaux died from massive acute hemorrhagic pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs.

We spoke with Sheriff Mike Tregre behind closed doors today, who confirmed a report was ordered for the deputy's taser. He said it's not out of the ordinary to request an expert report in a case like this, but could not identify when the report would be released to the public or the attorney's involved in the case.

Sheriff Tregre said the investigation was handled by Louisiana State Police and the expert report will be delivered directly to them.

During a hearing yesterday, Wilson was still not afforded the evidence he's requested and since the Sheriff's attorney has a conflict, a continuance was granted in the suit, which means there's no date for the next phase of the case.

Kendra Smith-Parks

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